Happy Days
by eloquentelegance
Summary: Extremely short drabbles. Interactions between Hibari and Tsuna from when they were kids to when they grow up. Fluff. Set in If Only-verse though it can be read seperately.
1. Answers

Tsuna gnawed on the end of his pencil. His brow furrowed as he stared at the sheet of paper before him. How could such a flimsy thing be so intimidating? He sighed.

Beside him, Hibari absent-mindedly flipped through a picture book. He wasn't reading, of course. The storyline was far beneath him. It simply gave him something to do while he waited for the fresh batch of onigiri. Mmm, home-cooking was indeed the best.

A pained groan tore Hibari's eyes from the Cat and the Hat, as Tsuna flopped lifelessly unto the desk.

"I give up." The boy mourned. "I can't solve problem 2."

"Hopeless." Hibari scoffed, scooting closer to Tsuna and peeking over his shoulder. "The answer is 4."

"Oh?" Tsuna blinked, sitting back up. "Umm, thanks Hibari-san."

"Hopeless Herbivore."

Tsuna twitched. Withholding his caustic reply, he clumsily scratched out a 4 on the paper. He smiled. Happy to be finished with the question, he moved on to the next equation. His cheer steadily diminishing as he learned he did not know the answer. Again.

"Aargh, problem three is so hard!" He cried.

"The answer is 10." Hibari sniffed, returning back to his picture book.

Tsuna looked up at him questioningly but writing in the number nonetheless.

And so the cycle repeated itself.

"Mou, problem 5 is-!"

"The answer is 9."

"Problem 6 is-!"

"It's 3."

"Problem-!"

"7."

"Hibari-san! I didn't even say what problem it is yet!" Tsuna pouted. "Besides, how do you even know? You're reading Suess-sensei (Dr. Suess)!"

"I memorized the equations, of course." Hibari replied blandly.

Tsuna narrowed his eyes in a weak attempt to glare. "If Hibari-san is so smart, why doesn't he teach me how to do the problem?"

Hibari peered over his book. "Why?"

"Why, he asks... Because I need to know how to solve this on my own!"

"Why? You don't need to know. I'm right here beside you. I can give you the answers."

"But what if Hibari-san is not right here beside me? What if there's a test and Hibari-san can't just tell me the answers? Tsu-I can get a really bad grade! Then Mama will get angry."

Hibari rolled his eyes. "It's not like you can actually fail Daycare. It's only supposed to prepare us for when we actually go to school. We don't even get grades."

"Still..."

"Listen, Herbivore. As long as I'm here, you don't need to worry about anything. Got that?"

Tsuna stared openly at Hibari. His shock pitifully obvious before his expression melted into utter adoration. "Hibari-san can be nice after all..."

Hibari twitched. And in one sudden motion, he dropped the book, stood up, and opened the bedroom window.

"A-A-Ah! Wait! Hi-Hibari-san! What are you doing?" Tsuna cried worriedly as Hibari stuck one foot out.

"You pissed me off. I don't like crowding, Herbivore." Hibari huffed, and without another word, leapt unto the nearby tree.

Leaving behind a flustered Tsuna, and a half-finished worksheet.

"Aaah, was it something Tsuna said?"


	2. Keeper

Most boys her son's age brought home a myriad of creatures, arguably wild, ranging from lost puppies to mud-covered frogs. Poor, starving animals they found along the wayside, trailing after them with their pleading eyes. What child could resist adopting these four-legged vagabonds, begging their parents to keep them?

But her son? Her son was special. There was no mangy mutt lapping at his heels or slimy amphibians cupped in his hands. No. Her Tsunayoshi brought home a boy. A lanky, skinny human boy with shaggy, black hair and the fiercest stare. Though not 'arguably wild' but 'definitely wild'. There was no argument.

Her Tsu-chan burst through the door one day, returning from Daycare as per usual. Except he was certainly more energetic, dashing about the house yelling, "Mama! Mama! Mama!" He finally found her in the kitchen. She had been washing dishes when he ran up to her, tugging at her apron strings and wearing the classic 'I'm-cute-so-give-me-what-I-want' expression.

"Mama!" He said. "Look who followed me home! Hibari-san said he was hungry. Do you think he can stay? For dinner?"

"I didn't _follow_ you home, Herbivore. I don't follow people. I escorted you home. There's a difference." Hibari snapped.

And Nana saw that awkward, little boy, standing in her doorway. His sharp eyes shifting back and forth, his body tense and coiled, prepared to vault into action. He resembled every inch the alley cats she'd seen in the market. Wary for any attack, he was a fighter lurking in the shadows, territorial and aggressive, ready to take on the world. A stray boy.

"So, what's the difference, Hibari-san?" Her Tsuna replied blankly.

"Following is crowding, something only you herbivores do. Escorting is like I'm with you wherever you're going, in case something happens. Totally different." hibari answere nonchalantly

Yet in the safety and comfort of her home, protected from the harsh reality, surrounded by cute knick knacks and lace pillows, Hibari looked awfully vulnerable. Scared, almost. A total misfit, he didn't belong in such a domestic setting. He simply didn't belong.

Still, Nana thought he looked awfully lonely.

"Oh! Then it's kinda like Hibari-san is protecting me?" Her Tsuna inquired innocently.

"No! It's nothing like that, Herbivore. You just attract the most trouble so if I stick around you, I can weedle out the bullies and-and keep the peace. That-that's all! You're just bait." Hibari stated as a matter of fact.

Nana smiled.

It ws perhaps a decade too early for her precious Tsu-chan to be bringing home boys. Ah, but what did she care? Nana took one look at Hibari Kyouya and knew.

This one was a keeper.


End file.
